Avira Phantom VPN software review (free version)

Last updated on: June 2, 2016

VPN software plays a vital role in keeping your online activity safe from prying eyes when you’re using a public WiFi hotspot or free WiFi service in hotels, colleges, school, etc. With this software, you can also surf blocked websites.

Last month, Avira, the developer of the widely used Avira antivirus and many other security tools, had launched its Phantom VPN service for Windows and Android devices.

This VPN application is powered by one the strongest 256 bits encrypting algorithm, the AES. Most of the products Avira has launched till date are available in two versions, free and premium. The VPN software is available in two versions as well.

The Phantom VPN can be used for free on Windows or Android devices with data transfer restrictions. If you like this software and want to use it without any limitations, you’ll have to upgrade your account to the pro version which costs around $40 (annually).

Below we’ve shared a review of the free edition of Phantom VPN. Go through the review to learn whether this application is worth installation or not.

Getting started

AVIRA Phantom VPN software’s free version is available on the official website for download. Get the setup file and run it. Once the configuration window appears, click on accept and install button. If you want to go through the end user license agreement or the privacy policy, click on the two links that you’ll find below the button.

The setup will begin downloading the required application files from the website as soon as you click on the button. Once the required files have been fetched, the Avira VPN software will be installed on your PC.

The VPN connection will not be activated automatically. You’ll have to start it manually by closing the setup window and clicking on the desktop icon of the Avira VPN.

Once the service has been enabled, open the Avira Launcher from the Windows taskbar for accessing the option to configure the VPN connection and settings.

Features

Avira Phantom VPN makes you aware of the bandwidth usage and the current virtual location of a link. It has an option to secure your connection. If you enable this feature, communication between your PC and the connection will be encrypted with AES 256 bit algorithm. This feature ensures anonymity on the internet.

You can be anonymous on the web till the bandwidth usage reaches to 500 MB (per month). You can increase the usage limit up to 1GB if you register a free account on Avira’s official website.

The free version of AVIRA VPN lets you change your virtual location to one of the below countries:

Canada, Switzerland, Czech Republic.

Germany, Spain, France, Netherlands.

Poland, Romania, United Kingdom, and the USA.

Avira Phantom VPN for Windows will send diagnostic data to the Avira servers. This feature can be disabled from the settings section.

Avira Phantom VPN will not start automatically when the Windows OS boots to the desktop unless the user enables its startup service from the settings window.

Avira Phantom allows you to use the VPN service on multiple devices at the same time. To use this feature, you must click on manage devices option in the main interface of this software.

Browsing Speed

While using the VPN connection with the virtual location Germany, some websites were taking too much time to open in the browser. I switched the location from Germany to the United Kingdom, and things were back to normal.

Conclusion: If you’re in search for a free VPN service provider, try out Phantom because it’s fast and easy to set up on the Windows computer. 1GB per month limit will be not sufficient for users who use computers for 8+ hours a day.

The Phantom VPN software is perfect for users who use Internet for 1 or 2 hours a day. The browsing speed may drop when a lot of users have connected the Avira VPN to a same virtual location. In such case, the user can easily change the location because the UI of this software is easy to use.